Fantasy Tips - Sri Lanka vs South Africa on August 14

After a dominating performance in the Test series, Sri Lanka couldn’t replicate their form in the five-match ODI series against South Africa. Albeit they won the last two matches, they eventually lost the series 2-3. Angelo Mathews and Co would now love to win the one-off T20I and end their campaign on a high. In the meantime, the visitors won’t have Faf du Plessis as their captain and JP Duminy will have the responsibility. The team lost their erstwhile T20I series against India earlier this year, however, will start the encounter the favourites for the reason that they are ranked sixth compared to Lanka’s ninth. After defeats in the last two One Dayers, South Africa will want to bow out on a positive note.

Best economical pick – Akila Dananjaya finished as the leading wicket-taker in the ODIs with 14 wickets in five matches. The off-spinner played a key role to demolish the South African batting line-up with his six-wicket haul in the last game. He can pose a threat to the visitors in this match.

Top captains & vice captains – It is indeed very good to see the talented all-rounder JP Duminy find good match-winning form in the ODIs against Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka haven’t been able to get the measure of JP Duminy as yet in the ODI series. They need to find ways of keeping him quiet in the one-off T20I in order to stand a good chance of winning the game. Having scored 1822 runs in 76 T20Is at an average of 37.96 at a strike rate of 124.79, there is proven match-winning talent in this fine all-rounder. Angelo Mathews will be the key for Sri Lanka. Mathews has scored the most runs for the side in the 20-overs format and the skipper also topped the runs charts in the ODI series and is coming off an unbeaten 97 in the fifth ODI.

Smart pick – This year Thisara Perera seems to be a new man. In seven T20 internationals this year, he has struck at 179 with the bat, with an average of 45.20, and though he hasn't quite turned it around with the ball in T20s, he has generally been good in ODIs.

Cautious Pick – This Sri Lankan tour has been a disaster tour for Aiden Markram so far. He failed to play spin in the test series and then in the ODI series he scored only 23 runs in three matches. It is highly unlikable that he will get a place in the playing XI for this game, so don’t pick him in your Fantasy team for this match.